Minister Joe O'Brien

From next January, each PPN will receive over €100,000 in core funding from the Department of Rural and Community Development - more than double the original allocation of €50,000 each in 2015 and an increase of almost 20% on 2024.

Three local development company representatives welcomed the announcement of a new Community Connection Project which will employ 30 community link workers countrywide. Notably, the new community workers will have a communications role.

Poverty, in particular child poverty, was a  recurring theme this year in the various budget submissions compiled by community and voluntary organisations.  

A new programme was launched last week aimed at enhancing the performance of organisations supported under the Community Services Programme (CSP). 

A Budget package worth €472 million has been allocated to the Department of Rural and Community Development for 2025. A number of community and voluntary organisations, including Irish Rural Link were critical of the allocation, with CEO Seamus Boland saying the €472 million “pales in comparison to the amount of money available in the Budget”.

There was a mixed response from the community and voluntary sector to the launch of Budget 2025 this week. Some measures have been welcomed as a step in the right direction, but many organisations expressed the view that it didn’t go far enough to help those who need it most.

The Empowering Communities Programme (ECP) is to be expanded to two new areas: Tallaght-Jobstown and Roscommon-Castlereagh, with funding for community engagement workers in both areas.

Minister Joe O’Brien announced the new €3m programme to support communities, and a further €1m for supports for new arrivals at the Welcoming New Communities conference in Dublin Castle this week.